


More Than the Sum of Our Parts

by KieraElieson



Series: More Than the Sum of Our Parts [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Comment if you have an idea that goes along with this, Fluff, Gen, Light Angst, Sides with animal traits, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, each side will get their own chapter, i would love suggestions, most of my ideas have Roman exposing the others, mostly this should be fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2020-12-20 20:55:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21063050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KieraElieson/pseuds/KieraElieson
Summary: So, in this universe I headcanon that all the sides have animalistic features/traits, but that the dark sides can’t shapeshift it away unless they’re turning into something else entirely. Also that the most easy thing for any side to shapeshift into is the animal they have traits from.





	1. The Full Headcanon

**Author's Note:**

> This is the full headcanon. I will be following these ideas, and from now on, chapters will be loosely connected. For now I have ideas on Logan’s, Virgil’s, Deceit’s, and half of an idea for Patton. If anyone has ideas, particularly for Roman or Remus, comment! I won’t promise to follow the idea, but I will definitely read it and try to use as much as I can.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic now has 200 kudos!!!! Wow! Thank every one of you so much!

So, in this universe I headcanon that all the sides have animalistic features/traits, but that the dark sides can’t shapeshift it away unless they’re turning into something else entirely. Also that the most easy thing for any side to shapeshift into is the animal they have traits from. 

Deceit is obviously a snake. He’s always cold, and smells things better if he sticks his tongue out. Since he tries not to use it, he’s never learned to regulate his venom, and if he bites something with his fangs, he will use the venom. His fangs are normally only slightly too long for typical canines, but when he feels threatened they lengthen. If sufficiently scared, he will bite. His venom acts as a truth serum for about five minutes, depending on the person, before making them fall asleep for roughly twenty four hours. He doesn’t need to eat as often, but when he does he eats a lot. 

Virgil is a cat. He’s always been the best, even while a dark side, at hiding his catlike tendencies. His hair is softer than anyone else’s, due to being more fur-like than hair-like. His eyes used to be slitted, but since becoming a light side, he’s kept them more normal. His hair is also very sensitive, as is down around his jawline. It’s pleasant and calming, and he uses the hood on his hoodie to trigger it. He likes sitting on high places, and can see well in the dark. 

Patton is a dog. He would love to be a puppy all the time, but he has issues getting stuck in that form, and he’s needed so often, so he stays human-like most of the time. Still, he keeps the overly excited nature, and has issues if he’s by himself too long. His hair is soft, though not as much as Virgil’s, and he loves it when people pet his head. 

Logan is a peregrine falcon. Mostly, this results in extremely keen eyesight, but also extremely farsighted, which is why he needs the glasses. He also has wings, but he keeps them shapeshifted away almost always. Whenever he gets them out, they’re always tangled, and Patton is the only one who knows about them, because he loves to help straighten and preen them. Logan tries the most to not let his other instincts affect his life. Because he’s shapeshifting such a large part of himself away so constantly, it makes him very tired. His most preferred schedule is to let his wings out three non-consecutive nights in a week. This ensures that he doesn’t waste energy that might be needed elsewhere, but also doesn’t hinder his ‘normal’ life. 

Roman and Remus are the same, but splitting made it much less obvious, and most of it went to Remus. They’re a raccoon. This is a large part of why Remus eats trash. Raccoons make a bunch of different sounds, and this is where the ‘offended princey noises’ come from. Both of them are rather inclined to being nocturnal, being most awake in the early and later morning, getting tired in the afternoon and evening. This helps with dream-making. They both very much like shiny things, with Remus being more flamboyant about it. Remus can always be bribed with something sufficiently shiny. Roman can too, but has a line which he will not cross, even for shiny. Remus has always wanted to try eating Deceit’s scales, but Deceit is able to protect himself with his venom. Roman is very embarrassed about having raccoon traits, and has never ever shifted into one in front of the other sides.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m aware that there are things that suggest connecting Remus to Octopuses, but... it’s my headcanon ;)


	2. Sunspots

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I had an idea for Logan’s chapter first, but I got stuck and finished this one first.

**Sunspots**

There wasn’t much of a sun in the mindscape. If the sides wanted to go outside, Roman would use the imagination to conjure up something, but most of the time they didn’t, and a sun wasn’t needed. However, there was one exception. In Patton’s room there was a window, and the sun came in from it to shine halfway onto his bed. 

Deceit had found this while acting as Patton once, and filed away the knowledge safely. 

He had a heating lamp in his room, but it frequently broke. Probably because of the frequent power flickers and surges that a certain someone wouldn’t stop causing. 

Today, Patton was going to be busy for hours, and his room would be empty. Deceit couldn’t help but think of the sunspot. Even just going into Patton’s room would help him feel warmer, but actually standing in the spot. A grin slid onto his face. 

He left his room quietly, not wanting anyone to notice his absence, and quickly went to the area the main sides stayed. There was a door separating them, and most of the time, only he or Thomas could open it. It was a slight chance leaving, since one of the sides he was supposed to be keeping a secret might try to get through the door, but if they didn’t realize he was gone, they wouldn’t think that it was any weaker than normal. 

He slipped through and snuck to Patton’s room. No one saw him, yet, and the door was unlocked. He disguised himself as Patton, in case any other side happened to walk in. Then he stepped into the sunspot. 

The warmth was immediate. The perfect spot was sitting on the very edge of the bed facing the window. Deceit’s eyes slid shut as he relaxed. He had several hours before Patton would come back, so he could afford to relax for at least one of those before he figured out how to get back without anyone seeing him. 

  * •^*^••

Deceit was startled awake by a gasp. He blinked several times, trying to figure out where he was. Patton was looking at him with a shocked expression. It all came rushing back and he jumped to his feet. He dropped the disguise he had put on. 

“Deceit.”

“Morality.”

There was a pause. “I also am overjoyed to see you,” Deceit drawled, trying to figure out how to slip past him. 

“What are you doing in my room?” Patton asked. 

Deceit’s head spun for a moment before settling on a bland “Nothing.”

“Say, Padre,” Roman’s head popped in the not quite closed door. 

Before Deceit could move there was a sword pointed at his throat. 

“Patton, are you alright?” Roman asked, already in a hero pose. 

“I’m fine, just, surprised.”

“What are you doing here, snake?” Roman asked. 

Deceit smirked. “Plotting evil plans against you.” 

He tried to sink out, but Roman grabbed his arm, pulling him out of the spot completely. Deceit hissed at the sudden chill, and jerked his arm back. 

“I’m not going to let you leave after you just threatened us.”

Roman stepped back, his sword ready, but not pointed directly at Deceit, giving him a chance to explain. When instead he only glared at the two of them, Patton spoke up again. 

“What were you doing in here? And, were you asleep?”

Deceit scowled, “No.”

Now that the immediate danger was gone, but they weren’t intending on letting him go, it seemed that the best thing to do would be to regain control of the situation somehow. If that was possible. 

“I was… I was waiting for Morality to get back.” Deceit said, dropping his head slightly as if embarrassed. 

“Why?” Patton asked, far less suspicious than Deceit would have thought. 

“I had heard from Anxiety about something you made that he enjoyed. I had hoped to get a recipe.”

“You wanted a  _ recipe?! _ ” Roman exploded. “Why—when have you ever cared about that? When did you talk to Virgil? And why couldn’t you just wait outside the door?”

“Because you all  _ love  _ to see me and definitely  _ wouldn’t  _ point weapons at me for just being here.” Deceit hissed. 

“Well, if a recipe is all you  _ really  _ wanted,” Patton said, squinting at Deceit. “Which one was it?”

“He said it was called shepherds pie.”

“Oh!” Suddenly Patton seemed delighted. “That was a special one! It’s a bit complicated but…” he closed his eyes for a moment and waved his hand, a paper appearing in it. “Here.”

“Thank you,” Deceit said, letting Patton hand him the paper. “I’ll be leaving now.”

Roman didn’t look convinced, but didn’t stop Deceit as he slipped past and out. 

Behind him he heard, “Virgil really liked the pie!” “I’m not sure—Yeah, that’s great. It was a really good shepherds pie.”

He made it to the door safely, and opened it, glad to see no one there. He locked it behind him and sank into his room. 

  * •^*^••

Two days later he was freezing again. His feet ached from being cold, and his warmest outfit still wasn’t helping, but instead leaving him feeling like he was wrapped in bubble wrap. His heat lamp was completely busted, and his best attempts had only kept it going a few minutes longer. 

The worst thing was the looks he got from the other sides. He knew just as well as they did that 68 degrees was not nearly cold enough to warrant the kind of coat he was wearing. But that didn’t change how his body was feeling. 

But, he had a plan. One that had worked several times before. Hopefully Roman wasn’t too suspicious from a few days ago. 

The two things any side could conjure were food and clothes. Roman and Remus, of course, could conjure anything that came into their heads, and the main sides had more abilities with conjuring, though he didn’t know how many. The food would always taste better and fill more the more you did with it, which is why he and Patton frequently cooked. But what he needed now was clothes. 

Deceit closed his eyes and envisioned the most extravagant version of his outfit he could, complete with a large, ornate golden medallion. It took a decent chunk of energy, but when he opened his eyes it was laid out on his bed. He took the medallion off and waved away the rest. It wasn’t amazing. The detailing in particular left a lot to be desired. But, it might well work. He stuffed it into his pocket and snuck into the main sides’ side of the mind. 

Making sure no one was in the hallway, he softly knocked at Roman’s door. Usually, he would just sink into the room, but he needed to keep any bit of trust Roman had in him. Roman opened the door and looked down at him, suspicion already coloring his expression. 

“What do you want?”

Deceit held out the medallion, making sure to speak the truth. “I want to trade.”

Roman’s eyes sparkled, but his expression didn’t change. “What for?”

“Another heating lamp.”

Roman’s eyes narrowed. “What are you using all these lamps for anyway?”

“Do you want to trade or not?”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, I do, but I want to know what you need so many for first.” Roman motioned Deceit inside his room and shut the door. 

Something was off. This was a trap somehow. 

“I-I think, I won’t be heading back now..” Deceit said, abandoning his previous care. 

“Oh, I agree. You won’t be heading back quite yet.”

Deceit put a smirk onto his face that he did not at all believe in. “So certain?”

There was a click from behind him, presumably the door locking, and Roman advanced. Deceit backed up a step. Physical confrontations were not his strong suit. Soon he was pressed against the door, the handle digging uncomfortably into his side, and Roman looming over him. 

“So, this is going to be how we play this. You’re going to tell me why you need so many lamps, and what you were really doing in Patton’s room, or I’m going to take your medallion, make you leave empty handed, and I’ll never trade with you again.”

Deceit had pride. This was why he had never explained himself over this matter. It would make him look weak. And weakness could be exploited. Even Virgil was experiencing the impotency that came with being more open. 

But the potential of never getting a lamp again. And the likelihood that he would also be always guarded against on this side of the mind, never to get into the sunspot again. It was too much. 

“There’s not power surges in my room. The other lamps all stayed working perfectly. When I wasn’t in Morality’s room I didn’t stand in the sunspot.”

Roman narrowed his eyes slightly. Then he cocked his head. “Oh, is it a snake thing? Like you’re cold-blooded?”

“It’s complete. It doesn’t affect me partially.”

“Oh. That was… way less sinister than I was imagining.”

Deceit crossed his arms and glared. “Just don’t make the trade and then I’ll stay.”

“You know, if it’s power surges, I can make you a surge protector.” Seeing the look on Deceit’s face, Roman backed up a step and continued quickly. “I just, feel kinda bad about cornering you, when it was just you were cold.”

Deceit nodded. “Then don’t apologize.”

To his surprise, after a second of hesitation, Roman sighed. “Fine. I’m sorry. I took it too far.”

“I accept your apology. I would like the surge protector.” Deceit said, making the effort again to speak truthfully. He held out the medallion to Roman. 

Roman took the medallion. He snapped, and handed the surge protector to Deceit. He snapped again, and handed over a large heat lamp. 

“Thank you.” Deceit sunk out with his loot. He normally didn’t sink into his room from the main area, but with his arms full, he decided that it would be less conspicuous. 

He plugged in the lamp, finally shedding his bulky jacket, and basked in the warmth. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked it comment with a smiley! :)


	3. Logan Does Indeed Have Wings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan has wings, but he isn’t open about this fact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got unstuck on this one! Virgil’s chapter will be next, but it keeps getting longer and longer, so I may split it in two.

**Logan does indeed have wings. **

  
  


“Patton, I will require your assistance this evening,” Logan said, setting his book down. 

Roman raised an eyebrow. Logan has been saying this almost every other day for close to a month now, and he had never figured out why. 

“Of course!” Patton said cheerfully, bouncing up on his toes. “I love being an assistant!”

Roman shot Virgil a glance, but Virgil was curled up with headphones, and probably hadn’t heard anything. 

“Say, Microsoft, whatsit you keep needing so much help with?”

Logan’s face got very stiff, “I do not believe that it is something that pertains to you, Roman.”

Roman let his confusion, and a bit of offense, show on his face, hoping Logan would continue, or try to defend himself. 

Logan stood up abruptly. “If you’ll excuse me, I have work that needs attending to.” He walked out of the kitchen quickly. 

“Wait, Logan!” Patton moved to follow him. He stopped, and turned to Roman, as if he wanted to say something, but then he changed his mind and chased Logan. 

Now this was too much. There was no way Roman was going to leave this alone any longer. It was a slow day for him, which left plenty of time to plan. 

Finally, Patton and Logan has gone into Logan’s room, and Roman was staked out near the door. 

He was trying to see how close he could get without making a sound when Remy walked by. 

“Hey, babe, Thomas is about to sleep, so like, places.”

“What? It’s barely nine, Thomas never goes to sleep this early!”

Remy shrugged, “I’ve got stuff going on later.”

“What, so you’re going to put him to sleep now, and leave him awake when he normally sleeps?”

Remy took a long sip from his drink in answer. 

From behind the door, Roman could hear a deadpan, “Ow.” from Logan, followed quickly by Patton’s voice. “Sorry! Sorry, I’ll be careful.”

His curiosity skyrocketed, but at the same time, Remy was now leaving. It was his responsibility to make dreams. If he didn’t show up, Remus would surely take over and turn anything into a nightmare. 

“Argh! Wait up, Remy, I’m coming.”

  * •^*^••

Patton finally finished detangling the feathers. Three had come out while he was working. 

Logan shook his wings, and all the feathers fluffed up. 

“Thank you, Patton, I feel much better.”

“Aw, you’re welcome. You know, if you wanted to just leave them out during the day, I’m sure no one would mind.”

“My current schedule is adequate.”

Patton’s face twisted up a bit in worry. “But it makes you so uncomfortable.”

“All things considered, a bit of discomfort is unavoidable at this time.”

“What all are you considering?”

Logan hesitated and looked away. “Well, I am unused to maneuvering with my wings. It is highly likely that I would run into things and people.”

“Well, there’s no way to get better without practicing.”

“T-they would certainly be distracting—“

“But not in a bad way.” Patton interrupted, putting on one of his brightest smiles. 

“We are coming up on an incredibly busy time.”

“That’s actually part of why I want you to do it. With Thomas’s family coming over, I’ll be super busy, and I don’t want to leave you to deal with this by yourself.”

Logan drew himself up. “I am perfectly capable of handling myself, Patton.”

Patton’s face fell. “Alright. If you’re sure.”

  * •^*^••

Roman watched Logan closely. Nothing seemed very different. It had been two days, and he hadn’t yet asked Patton for help with whatever it was again. Then again, Patton had been busier than usual. 

Roman has been busy in preparation for the visit, but now that it was actually happening, Patton had the most work to do. 

Roman caught Virgil watching him a few times, and tried to point with his eyes to Logan. Virgil always noticed when something was different. He’d be able to help figure out what Logan’s secret was. 

  * •^*^••

Logan snapped his book shut, an uncharacteristic anger glinting in his eyes. “I’m tired of this! What is so interesting that both of you feel the need to stare at me for  _ three days?! _ ”

Roman quickly looked away. “I wasn’t—“

“Yes. You have been. I demand an explanation.” He turned to Virgil, who was trying to sink out subtly. “From both of you.” 

Virgil looked at Roman, which, honestly, was fair. Roman had dragged him into this after all.

“I wanted to know what the secret you and Patton have been keeping is,” Roman confessed. “And I asked Virgil to help.”

“But, once I started watching, I noticed that you’ve been increasingly uncomfortable, and you keep,” Virgil’s face scrunched up as he thought. “Fidgeting.”

“And did neither of you consider that I hadn’t told you because I didn’t want to?” Logan said.

“But… if you  _ look  _ uncomfortable, and it’s something you don’t want us to know about, and you’ve been more irritable than usual--” Virgil broke off again. “Are you in pain?”

“I’ve only been irritable because it’s a busy time, and you two won’t stop staring.”

“Are you?” Roman asked, now concerned. “Are you in pain?”

“I am perfectly adequate.”

“If you lie like that you’ll summon Deceit,” Virgil said quietly.

“Why must you two harp on this?” Logan asked, his anger cracking slightly.

“We’re worried about you, Microsoft Nerd.” Roman said.

“Fine. Yes, I am uncomfortable. I have a personal problem, and I don’t want to talk about it.” Logan abruptly sunk out.

Once in his room he let his wings out. With all the extra work recently, it had been much harder than normal to keep them hidden, and taking them out and putting them back without straightening his feathers only made them get more tangled and sore. But he didn’t have time for that now. He shook them out and folded them against his back.

He was surprised, but also relieved that no one came to call him for dinner that night. It was ten at night before he had gotten his work done. All this nostalgia. Sure it was good to have it sometimes, but it meant so much sorting of memories. His feet were tired, and so were his arms. 

He dreaded the thought of going to bed with his wings out, but he also was worried that if he shifted them away without detangling again he might cause some actual damage. But his arms were far too tired to work quickly. He sat on the edge of his bed and started the long process. If only his wings were smaller.

It was quite a while later when his door slowly opened. As soon as Logan noticed he shifted his wings away, wincing at the loud rustle. 

“Virgil? Do you need something?”

Virgil stood awkwardly in the doorframe. “Sorry, I was just, checking.”

“Checking?”

Virgil nodded, his eyes glued to the floor.

“For what?”

“Just, that you’re ok, you’re usually asleep by now and…” Virgil looked up, and something sparked in his eyes. “If it’s your wings, I know I’m not Patton, but maybe I could help.”

Logan took in a sharp breath.

“He didn’t tell me!” Virgil defended quickly. “I just, saw them a couple times.”

“Do you make a regular practice of invading my room while I’m asleep?”

Virgil flinched. “Sorry. If you’re upset I can stop.”

Logan clenched his jaw. “How are the others?”

“Asleep. They’re fine.”

“So you check on all of us.”

Virgil nodded. 

Logan sighed. “This is not a pleasant way to learn about this, but I do believe I can see why you do it.”

“Sorry.”

“I’ll expect you to inform Patton and Roman. But for now, if you were sincere in your offer,” Logan let his wings out again, slightly cringing at how much of his work had been undone. “I use this tool, whereas Patton prefers his hands.”

Virgil finally stepped into the room, closing the door softly behind himself. He accepted the tool, and started smoothing the outside of the wings, while Logan worked on the inside. 

Together, and with Virgil’s maneuverability, it was done in barely ten minutes.

“Thank you, Virgil.”

Virgil nodded. “Have they been bothering you? During the day.”

“Yes. They have. I was uncomfortable in the way in which you expressed it, but I do appreciate that you and Roman were concerned for me.”

Virgil nodded. “Can—are you going to tell Roman?”

“Perhaps tomorrow.” 

“Alright. I’ll, I’ll leave you alone now.”

  * •^*^••

Thomas had slept in, leaving Roman making dreams later than usual. When he finally came downstairs he stopped, frozen. 

“You have wings!?!”

Logan spun around, his eyes wider than usual. 

“They’re gorgeous! How have you never shown me this?! Can you fly with them? Can I touch them?” Without waiting for a response, Roman reached out, lifting gently on the bend of the wing. “It’s so soft. And they match your whole aesthetic perfectly.”

Logan was staring at him, more shocked than Roman had ever seen him, and a light blush over his cheeks. “I’m… flattered.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment with a ••^*^•• if you liked it!


	4. Virgil’s First Adventure in the Imagination

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not to say Virgil’s first ever adventure in the imagination, merely the first one in this universe that I’ve written about. 
> 
> There will be a second adventure to be posted in a few days if possible

**Virgil’s First Adventure in the Imagination **

  
  


“So why do I have to come again?” Virgil asked, pulling his hood closer around his face. 

“In case I need your help!” Roman said, far too loudly for the sneaking they were supposed to be doing. 

“But what do you think I’d be able to do that you can’t?”

“You have a… relationship, with shadows. The DragonWitch frequently uses them against me. I thought that, in the imagination, you could control them, and help me defeat her once and for all!”

“But we don’t know that. What if the most likely thing happens, and I can’t?”

Roman pulled out his sword to hack at some vines that were in the way. “Oh, come on. You underestimate yourself.” He turned to flash a brilliant smile at Virgil. 

Virgil hid the rising blush behind his hood. 

“Just think of the glory! The acclaim! At least think of how happy Patton will be.”

Roman hacked through enough that he could squirm past the rest of the vines. 

“Come on,” he said, finally quiet enough. “The cave is just over here.”

Virgil squeezed through, and found that they were in a very small clearing, and at the other end was the mouth of a cave. He looked up, and was surprised to see that nothing over shadowed the clearing. It was a cleared cylinder down. Probably for taking off in dragon form, if he had to guess. Roman was already nearly inside the cave, and Virgil jogged to catch up. 

The inside of the cave was dark, but he was surprised to see most of the darkness start moving, seemingly on its own accord, to surround Roman. 

“Virgil,” Roman whispered, stopping suddenly. “I can’t see anything.” His voice quavered slightly. 

“I’m here. I’m gonna… try.”

He knew that in the imagination, very few things made sense, so he just held out his arm, and, kind of just willed the darkness to come to him. 

To his surprise, the shadows did come to his arm, wrapping around it so thickly he could barely see it anymore. Another surprise was that the shadows were warm and soft, more like the shadows in his room than the creepy ones everywhere else. 

Roman straightened from where he had been slowly crouching lower. “That’s it. You’re doing it, Virgil! Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s get this over with quickly.”

Roman brandished his sword and shot Virgil a bright, confident smile. “Together, I’m sure we will!”

From the back of the cave, they could hear laughter. “So certain, are we?” 

The DragonWitch was walking towards them, in human form, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t intimidating. Far from it. 

Roman charged her with a yell, only to run into a magical shield she held in place with one hand. 

Virgil panicked, and several shadows shot towards her. 

She waved them aside with a rush of sparks from her fingertips. She turned her attention to Virgil, and her hands started glowing, glowing runes forming in the air around her hands. 

“Don’t get hit with that!” Roman warned, still trying to hack through the magical shield. 

Virgil, not aware anymore of  _ how, _ drew up the shadows in front of him in a shield of his own. A moment later he staggered back as the spell hit the shadows, scattering most of them. She started powering up her spell again, and Virgil frantically gathered more shadows. 

He heard a shattering sound as the witch’s shield broke, and heard a cry of pain from her, but it distracted him, and he didn’t pull the shadows close enough. The spell was bright, and broke through them before hitting him. 

  * •^*^••

The DragonWitch reeled back as the tip of Roman’s sword touched her. He had managed a cut against the palm that had been previously been holding up the shield, but as he charged forward to pursue her she waved her hand, which had to hurt, and he found himself suddenly in the middle of a meadow. 

Roman cursed, throwing his sword down. Seconds later there was a slight whoosh sound, and he spun around to see a familiar hoodie, still covered in shadows. Virgil had been hit. 

Roman groaned. Virgil was going to hate him forever. He himself had been hit by that particular spell before, and hadn’t left the imagination until it had worn off. Which usually took three days. He carefully lifted one corner of the hoodie, and the shadows darted underneath, wrapping around a small, purely black cat. 

He scooped the cat into his lap and kept it covered with the hoodie. He’d just have to wait until Virgil woke up. Maybe he could explain. 

What if he couldn’t? He’d never tried to talk to another side like this. What if Virgil wasn’t able to understand him?

He worried about this for several minutes, trying to think of ways to get across meaning to a cat. Then Virgil moved. 

At first it was a slow stretch, then he suddenly darted out of Roman’s lap and ran several feet away, before spinning back to glare at Roman. His hair was all on end, and his eyes practically glowed purple. 

“Virgil,” Roman tried, reaching out a hand. 

Virgil hissed at him, the sound coming naturally as a cat. 

“It’s alright. The DragonWitch hit you with a spell. Do you remember?”

He wasn’t sure how he was expecting a cat to nod, but Virgil’s fur calmed, and he decided to take that as a yes. 

“I’ve been hit with this spell before. It typically lasts three days—“ 

Virgil hissed again, his fur spiking back up. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to get hurt.”

Virgil calmed again. 

“The problem is, I can do my job from in here, but I’m not sure you can. I think we should head back and tell Patton and Logan. Maybe they can even help get the spell off faster.”

Virgil’s ears pressed back flat against his head, but he didn’t hiss again. 

Roman stood up and reached for Virgil, but Virgil darted away, hissing again. “What? I thought you agreed we should tell the others.” 

He folded up Virgil’s hoodie and tucked it under one arm, reaching out again with the other. “Come on.”

Virgil stayed out of reach, hissing when his hand got too close. 

“What? You don’t want me to pick you up?”

Virgil hissed again. 

“Fine, I won’t. Let’s go.”

Roman walked forward. Without touching Virgil, if he tried to pull the imagination to bring him to the door, he’d just leave Virgil behind. It’d be a long walk. 

They had nearly reached the door when he turned around to see Virgil lagging a bit. He crouched down. 

“Can I pick you up now? I promise, I don’t think any less of you.”

Virgil couldn’t reply, obviously. 

Roman set down the folded jacket. “What if you sit here, and I’ll carry you on the jacket?” 

Virgil eyed the hoodie, then he walked onto it and laid down. Roman picked up the hoodie, smiling fondly. Virgil blinked up at him and yawned. 

A few more steps and they were in Roman’s bedroom. 

Roman went first to Patton’s room. He knocked on the door. “Patton?”

“Come in!” Came Patton’s cheerful voice. 

Roman opened the door a bit. “I will, but I need you to be calm.”

Patton’s face was instantly full of worry. “Alright. What is it?”

“It’s not bad,” Roman assured, walking in. 

“You brought me a cat!” Patton squealed, immediately snatching Virgil and cuddling him into his chest. 

Virgil meowed and squirmed. 

“Patton, that’s Virgil.”

“What?” Patton’s grip slackened, and Virgil squirmed out and fell to the floor, catching himself easily. Patton squatted down. “Is it really you, Virge?” 

Virgil waited a second, but when Patton didn’t try to grab him again, he walked forward and butted his head against Patton’s shin. 

Patton muffled another squeal in his hands. “I can’t believe it! What happened?”

“We were on a quest, to defeat the DragonWitch.”

Virgil hissed at the mention. 

“She got him with a spell.”

“Oh, poor baby,” Patton said, reaching out a hand. 

Virgil hissed and backed away from his hand. 

“What’s the matter?” Patton asked. 

“He doesn’t seem to like being touched or babied without permission.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Kiddo. Can I pet you?”

To Roman’s surprise, Virgil took a step forward, and Patton started petting him. 

“We came to let you know, and to see if you knew of any way to help turn him back.”

“No, I don’t know.” Patton said, still entranced by letting Virgil. 

“We should probably ask Logan, then.”

“Alright. Can I pick you up, Virgil? I’ll carry you to Logan’s room.”

Patton held out his hands, and Virgil rubbed up against them. Patton carefully scooped Virgil into his arms and stood up. 

  * •^*^••

Patton was kind, if a bit too much at times. He was also warm and safe, and Virgil was exhausted. A piece of him wishes he had just let Roman pick him up to begin with. 

But before he could sleep, they had to talk to Logan. Virgil was worried that Logan would find the whole situation fascinating, and lose the tact that he so often had. 

Roman knocked on Logan’s door, but Logan wasn’t in there. That at least was better. If Logan was in his room it would only heighten his inquisitiveness. 

Patton carried him down to the common room. “Hey, Logan!”

“Hello, Patton. Have you taken allergy medicine?”

“Ooh, no I haven’t. I wonder if I need to?”

“You’re holding a cat—“

“The cat is Virgil.” Roman blurted out. “The DragonWitch cast a spell on him.”

Logan’s eyebrows shot up and he abandoned his book. He loomed over Virgil, who fought the urge to hide his face in Patton’s elbow. 

“How long does the spell last?” Logan asked. 

“About three days.” Roman said. 

“Can he still be Anxiety while in this form?”

Roman shrugged. “Thomas hasn’t run into any door frames yet.”

Logan nodded. “He doesn’t appear to be fully grown yet, when has he last eaten?”

Virgil didn’t appreciate being talked about like this, but at the mention of food he realized he was just about as hungry as he was tired. It was… humiliating, to act like a cat, but they would understand him better than if he tried to act like normal. He meowed. 

“We left early this morning.” Roman said. 

“Oh, are you hungry?” Patton cooed. 

Virgil meowed again, and patted at Patton’s chest. 

“Ooh, don’t worry. I’ll get you some food, Kiddo.”

Patton walked into the kitchen, leaving behind Roman and Logan, who were back to talking about the spell. 

Looking around in the fridge, Patton spotted a container of deli meat and held a piece in front of Virgil. Virgil snapped it up immediately. 

Patton giggled, which made Virgil’s perch unstable. He was entirely unwilling to claw Patton, so he hopped down to the floor. Patton held out another piece of meat to him. It was so good! Patton gave him several more pieces of the meat before Virgil jumped onto the counter, pawing at the handle on the sink until it turned on, and drinking straight from the tap. 

“Are you done now?” Patton asked. 

Virgil wasn’t sure how he was supposed to answer that, and he couldn’t seem to get the water to turn off. Patton reached around him to shut it off and then picked him up. Virgil didn’t mind at the moment. Every part of him wanted to fall down and sleep now. 

Patton carries him back into the common room, where Roman and Logan were now arguing fiercely. Patton sat down, and Virgil curled into his lap. He fell asleep with Patton petting him softly. 

  * •^*^••

“Come on, Storm Cloud,” Roman coaxed. “Let’s give Pat a break.” He tried to pick up Virgil, who woke as soon as he was touched, but didn’t protest. 

Logan picked up Patton, who didn’t wake up nearly as easily, and carried him to his room. 

“Would you like to go to your own room, or one of ours?” Roman asked, still whispering. 

Virgil squirmed down to the ground and went to his own door. Roman came up behind him and tapped once at the door. A cat door appeared at the bottom of the door. 

Roman smiled down at Virgil. “How’s this?” 

Virgil meowed, and Roman hoped it was a good thing. Then Virgil disappeared into his room. 

Roman was still a bit surprised. No one had… thought any less of Virgil like this. Patton had helped as much as he could, and Logan had debated for hours on how they could possibly turn him back. They hadn’t… expected him to be able to do everything he could as a human, or even to act in the same way. But they hadn’t ignored what he wanted and turned him into a pet either. 

If—when, honestly, Roman got hit with the spell again, could he maybe… could he come back? Before it wore off? Would they help him the same way? But he wasn’t a cute cat like Virgil was. He wasn’t cute by any standard. And without someone to prove it, like he had with Virgil, how would they ever know who he was? No. It was better just to keep going as he had. If he did actually come back… if they looked at him with disgust… if they kicked him out… he wasn’t sure he’d be able to handle that. 

On his way to bed, he put a cat door in each of their doors. 

  * •^*^••

It was early in the morning when Virgil woke. He was restless and hungry. Mostly restless. He glanced at the clock on his desk. It was five. Oddly enough, he couldn’t remember ever having been awake at this hour. He was usually asleep before now, and slept in as late as the other sides would let him. He stretched and jumped down from his bed. He decided to check on the other sides. Usually he would check on them late at night, sometime between eleven and one, but he hadn’t done it last night, and was starting to get worried just thinking about it. 

He left his room, almost panicking when he realized he couldn’t get into the other rooms, but then he saw the cat doors in the doors. He slipped into Patton’s room first, and jumped up onto the bedside table as quietly as he could. Patton was curled up around a pillow, snoring softly. Virgil would have smiled, but being stuck in a cat body didn’t exactly make that possible.

Next he went into Logan’s room. Logan also had a bedside table, but his was covered with books. Virgil swished his tail in annoyance. There was no movement from the bed, but he could hear slow breathing, so Logan must be ok. Just he couldn’t seem to believe that without actually seeing him. He climbed up to Logan’s desk, which was on the other side of the room, but from there he could see him. He was laying on his stomach, but his face was relaxed, so he wasn’t having nightmares. Not that Logan had nightmares often, but when he did, they were intense and silent.

Virgil climbed down and went into Roman’s room. Roman did not have a bedside table, but he had a desk that Virgil jumped up on. He wasn’t in bed. Virgil looked frantically around the room, but Roman wasn’t anywhere to be found. Virgil ran downstairs to check the common room and the kitchen. Roman wasn’t there either. 

Virgil double checked everything, racing around and not paying particular attention to being quiet. Finally he found himself at the door to the imagination. Roman must be in here. There was nowhere left. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A cliffhanger! Whoo!


	5. Virgil’s Second Adventure in the Imagination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil is worried for Roman and goes into the Imagination to find him. Roman is fine. Virgil may not be.

**Virgil’s Second Adventure in the Imagination**

  
  


Virgil knew that the door always opened for Roman, but he had never tried to go through by himself before. Mostly because Anxiety couldn’t do much good in the imagination. He pushed at the door, and while it didn’t open, a cat door formed. He went through. 

It was dark, which Virgil guessed made some sense. It was still nighttime after all. He seemed to be in a forest. 

He realized that he hadn’t thought this out very well. He had no idea where Roman might be, and he couldn’t call for him. There might well be other cats that looked like him, so he couldn’t even be sure that Roman would recognize him if he did find him. 

Shadows seemed to be pressing closer to him, and he tried pulling them closer. To his surprise, it worked. Soon he had wrapped himself in a blanket of shadows. He was feeling much better, and had stumbled across a path. He followed the path, hoping that Roman would have done the same. 

  * •^*^••

Roman was in the most important room his castle. At least, it was the most important in the moment. It was the room in which he created dreams. 

Dreams took time to make, but he loved making them. There were so many wonderful things to consider. The dream tonight was an older one, one that had been saved to repeat. But to make up for that, Roman was determined to make the most spectacular dream he could! 

He had a large pot, and he poured into it enough excitement that a touch more would have made it into panic. He threw in danger, and some of a blend he had made of fantasy elements. With it being a blend, there was more surprise in it. He added ingredients and stirred. It was far too dry. He pulled a bucket up from a well that went right to the core of Thomas. He splashed enough belief into the pot that everything sloshed together. Then he had to cook it until everything dissolved together. 

He added a few dashes of things as the pot heated. Eventually it bubbled up, and he quickly took it off the fire, and poured it into a wooden frame. As it cooled, it crystallized, and each crystal sparkled. 

There was a knock at the door. Roman opened it with a wave of his hand. 

Remy sauntered in, his cup nearly empty. “Your guards held me up again.”

“I’ll speak with them. Are we done for the night?”

“Not yet, but I ran out of dream dust.”

“This one’s nearly done.” Roman smiled down at the frame. 

“Yes, Ma’am, that looks like a good one. I might keep him in bed all morning with this one.”

Roman glowed. “He does have something to do at eleven, though, so maybe not the entire morning.”

There was a loud cracking sound from the frame, indicating that the dream was done. Roman poured the crystals into a large mortar, and ground them into a dust that looked more like glitter. Remy held a bag at the edge for Roman to pour the dust into. 

“Thanks, Babe!”

“Yeah, you’re welcome.”

Remy held out his cup, and Roman snapped, filling it with a cherry almond slushy. Remy sipped, and wrinkled his nose. 

“TBH, you make weird drinks.”

“You know they’re fantastic, that’s why you always want one.”

“See ya, babes,” Remy called over his shoulder as he left. 

Roman wondered if there was enough time to make another dream before Thomas woke up. 

  * •^*^••

He felt the shadows react just before the hair on his back rose up. Virgil hid underneath a bush, trusting the shadows to keep him hidden. A woman, dressed oddly even for the imagination, burst onto the path, looking all around but especially behind her. 

Suddenly, as if she could see clearly through all the shadows, she looked directly at Virgil. She smirked, and walked up to the side of the bush. Virgil backed out, slowly enough to not leave the meager cover too early, but enough to let him run away if she tried to grab him. But she didn’t. She started mumbling and crouched down, pulling up a hood and looking very much like a stump. 

In the distance, but coming closer very quickly, there was a crashing, as if several people were blundering through the undergrowth. Virgil crouched under the bush again, gathering the shadows as close as he could. The sun was only barely up, so there were still many shadows. 

Three soldiers came running into the path. After some conversation, one followed the path one way, one the other way, and the last continued in the way they had been going previously. 

Once they were gone, the woman stood up, dropping her glamour. She looked at Virgil again, and this time he ran. He was faster than she was, and could weave through the trees and bushes by the side of the path better than she could, but she must have figured out that he was trying to stay near the path, because she chased him without leaving it. She started saying something, but he didn’t pay any attention.

He didn’t dare leave the path completely; getting lost in the imagination was probably the worst case scenario. But the woman was catching up. He was faster, but couldn’t last very long in this form. He ducked and wove around her, but apparent all she needed was to touch him once. Her hand brushed against his tail, and he was frozen. 

How?! He was a side! Some random figment from the imagination shouldn’t be able to immobilize him like this! She picked him up. He tried to claw and scratch and bite, but nothing happened. 

The woman left the path, and walked a ways before finding another. She followed this one for quite a while before reaching the very outskirts of a town. Virgil could see that from the town ran a toad, and at the end of that road he could see a city, with a castle. That’s where Roman would be. Except now he couldn’t get there! He tried again to get free of the whatever. It didn’t work. Then he remembered the way the shadows had attacked Roman. He willed the shadows to cover the woman’s eyes. 

He couldn’t turn his head to see, but it must have worked because she stopped. She lit some kind of flame in her palm, which dissolved most of the shadows that still clung to Virgil. 

She took him into a house, which was more of a hut, and held him so that he could see what she was doing as she slit her palm, and spread the blood on the windowsill and the floor in front of the door. Then she went to pet his head. Virgil cringed back, and was surprised that he actually could. He squirmed down, and tried to escape, but the blood made some kind of barrier that he couldn’t cross. 

He spun back to her, hissing. 

“Aren’t you angry? How cute. You know, I was surprised to see you again. Did the Prince leave you alone?”

Virgil hissed again, all his fur sticking up. If he thought it would do any good, he would have attacked her. 

“You have more transformation magic than he does. Although, I’ve always been surprised he had any at all, he never uses it.” She laughed. “Still confused? Does this help?” She waved a hand over her face, and revealed the face of the DragonWitch. “See, I’m too easily recognizable. I have to have extra transformation magic if I want to be near people. Though, I will say, I think that this identity won’t last much longer.”

Virgil just hissed. He didn’t care about her problems. 

“I am curious though, about the shadows. You’re barely using any magic on them, but you have a better hold than I ever did.” She waited a few moments, as if expecting an answer. “Can’t you speak like this?”

When Virgil didn’t answer, she got up and started mixing together powders and liquids. She took down a hunk of dried meat that was hanging from the ceiling, and coated it with the mixture before cooking it. She started eating it, but then pulled a piece off and held it out to Virgil. He had no way of knowing it wasn’t poisoned, except that she had eaten some first, but she might have just planned to eat an antidote as well. 

In the end, his stomach decided to pain him for seeing the food and not eating it, and he took the meat from her hand. It was very small, and a minute later she held out another piece. He tried to take it, but she held it above his head. He hissed his displeasure, but she just smirked and held it higher. 

“Jump, kitty.”

Oh no. He was not going to do anything for someone calling him kitty. “Old hag.” Virgil recoiled. He had spoken out loud. It was heavily accented, and didn’t sound like his own voice at all, but it was speech. 

“Now you can tell me. How do you control shadows so easily?”

“What makes you think I would  _ ever  _ tell you?”

She leaned forward. “I have you trapped, and I’m sure you’d like to know how to turn human again.”

“I already know. It wears off after a few days.”

“You don’t know. You merely assume. It is not a spell that  _ adds  _ something to you, it’s one that takes away. And gives to me, I might add.”

Virgil just hissed. 

“And as such, it won’t really wear off, you’ll just generate more power, and when you have enough, you can turn yourself back. If you tried, you might be able to do it now.”

She stood and went outside with the pan she had cooked the meat in. Virgil didn’t know if he believed her, but he still tried to turn back to usual. It worked. It was so much better. He first checked on Thomas, but he seemed to be fine. Then he tried to sink out, but wasn’t able. The door opened and the DragonWitch leaned against the frame. 

“You’re held inside with a bloodseal. Now the nice thing is, while I’m out here, you can’t get to me, but I can get to you. So, if you want to stay human, you have to tell me how to control shadows easily.” She was already charging up the spell she had hit him with the last time. 

Virgil glared at her. “I’m  _ never  _ going to help you.”

“Suit yourself.”

Virgil ducked, but the spell still hit him, knocking him out. 

  * •^*^••

“Has anyone seen Virgil?” Patton asked. “He didn’t come down for breakfast, and he wasn’t in his room when I checked.”

“No, I haven’t seen him since last night.” Logan said, looking up. 

“I haven’t either.” Privately, Roman wondered if, now that he wasn’t so tired and hungry, Virgil had been embarrassed and gone to hide. 

“I don’t want him to get hurt. Should we look for him?” Patton said, worry plain on his face. 

“Virgil is very capable of taking care of himself.” Logan said. “It’s very possible that he wanted time alone. I would suggest that we wait. If he’s still missing by dinner time, then it would be appropriate to begin searching for him.”

“I’m sure he’ll turn up once he gets hungry anyway,” Roman said in support. 

Patton still looked worried. “Sometimes he doesn’t though, I don’t want him to think that we don’t care about him just because he’s a cat right now.”

“But if we bother him now, we might be invading his privacy, and he might think that we don’t trust him.” Roman countered, still thinking of how much he would hate if any of them saw him while he was stuck in an animal form. 

“I guess…”

  * •^*^••

Virgil woke when someone started banging on the door. The DragonWitch was nowhere to be seen. A moment later the door was broken down and several soldiers burst in. Virgil hid back in a corner, pulling a few shadows surreptitiously to cover him. 

“She must be here.” One of the soldiers said. “Search everything. She can shift, so look for anything suspicious.”

Soldiers were ransacking the place, spilling powders and smashing bottles. Virgil backed further into the corner. But it was only a matter of time before they found him. 

The one who had spoken, who seemed to be the leader, picked him up by the fur on the back of his neck. 

“You really should have picked something better, Witch. A black cat? And you practically stink of magic.”

“You’re the one that stinks,” Virgil said, not realizing that he was still able to say it out loud. 

The soldier frowned deeper, and tightened his grip. Moments later, Virgil was shoved into a saddle bag and shaken nearly to death over the next hour. 

The clopping hooves got louder, as if they were on stone rather than dirt. Virgil hoped that they were in the castle. Even as a prisoner, it was closer to where Roman probably was. At this point, having found the DragonWitch, but not Roman, Virgil no longer believed that Roman was in danger. He had just gotten anxious and paranoid over nothing again, and dug himself over his head in trouble. At this point, he’d be taken to prison, and either escape and make his way upward, or Roman would come down to deal with the ‘witch’. Either way, he’d see Roman, who would let him out and take him home. 

Except… 

What if he didn’t? 

What if Roman was mad at him for coming into the imagination without asking? What if the witch did something to him and Roman couldn’t recognize him anymore? What if he couldn’t escape and the guards never told Roman he was here?

“Here, we caught the witch. She’s turned herself into a cat to hide. I’ll inform the prince, if you’ll take her down to the dungeon.”

A shudder ran through Virgil at the word dungeon. He knew it was Roman that made it, and Roman didn’t exactly torture people for fun, but he wasn’t above running a villain through with his sword. Which meant that his guards likely took the same view. 

He was handed over, bag and all, with no chance for escape. 

He was carried a ways, and then down stairs, and down more stairs, and then more stairs. The farther down they went, the colder it was. The tie on the front of the bag that had held it closed was undone, and he was dumped out onto the ground. Immediately the door was closed. It was dark, but his eyes were used to the inside of a bag and it didn’t take him long to see where he was. 

The cell would have been small for a human, but it was large to him. The walls were solid, rather than bars, and the only light came from a grating up on the door. From there came a faint, flickery yellow light, probably from a torch somewhere in the hallway. The cell was cold, and the only things in it were a bucket and a pile of very old straw topped with a blanket. Virgil climbed onto the blanket, curled up as tightly as he could, drew up the shadows over him, and went to sleep. 

  * •^*^••

“I’m really worried now! We should have looked for him earlier!”

“Don’t worry, Padre, there are still places we can look.”

“I suggest that the two of you search the memory archives, and I’ll ask the Others.” Logan said. 

“You can’t go confront Dark Sides by yourself!” Roman protested. 

“I can. I can handle talking with them more safely than either of you can. On the other hand, the memory archives are large, and will take some time to search.”

Patton rushed into Logan, hugging him tightly. “You have to promise me you’ll come back safely.”

“Of course, Patton.” 

Roman stuck out his hand. “We’ll meet back here at breakfast tomorrow at the latest.”

Logan took his hand and nodded. As he let go, Roman conjured him a sword. 

“Roman, I appreciate the gesture, but I do not require a sword. Nor do I know how to use one effectively.”

Logan waved away the sword. “I will be back here by tomorrow morning. If Virgil is with the others, I’ll bring him back with me.”

Then he sunk out.

  * •^*^••

It was closer to lunchtime when they met up the next day. Logan brought Deceit with him. 

“Virgil  _ is  _ with me or Remus, but everyone else is being very  _ clear  _ and  _ easy  _ to understand. He may  _ not  _ be with one of them.”

“We’ll come with you. If it’s all of us we can even break in if we need to.” Patton said, his eyes bright with passion. 

Roman nodded. “I just came back from checking his room again. He’s definitely not there, and I couldn’t see any signs of anyone going into the subconscious.”

“Did you check the imagination?” Logan asked. 

Roman shook his head. “He’s never once gone into the imagination on his own. And it’s huge. If we don’t find him with the D-“ he glanced at Deceit and stopped himself. “With the others, then I’ll check the imagination next.”

“Let’s go!” Patton said, already sinking out. 

  * •^*^••

Virgil was starving. And cold. And getting more and more worried that he would never get out. He had no idea how long he had been down here, but it seemed to stretch on endlessly. 

There was a constant scratching sound. Or sounds. Virgil suspected that the dungeon had rats. But, so far none of them had come into his cell. He wished one would. Except he wasn’t positive he had enough strength to kill a large one. 

At least he didn’t have to worry about Thomas. As a cat, he couldn’t tell as easily what Thomas was doing or saying, and in the ‘witch-proof’ cell he could tell even less. But just sitting still and shivering gave him plenty of time to pay attention. Thomas had been fine. He was taking a few days to just work on video editing that had been waiting for too long. 

The scratching came closer. Virgil froze. He forced himself to stop shivering, and to barely even breathe. He wasn’t a stranger to eating rats. Remus in particular had forced him into it more than once. He could see the tip of a nose come out of a crack. It was followed carefully by a head, and then a body. 

Virgil waited until it had left the wall entirely to pounce. It was a smallish rat, which the hungry side of him resented, but that made it easier to kill. Food. Finally. 

  * •^*^••

“At this point, he should be human again,” Roman said. 

“At least, as human as any of us are,” Logan conceded. 

“We still have to check the imagination,” Patton said, pacing. “And if we can’t find him there I’m going to Thomas.”

“We can’t bother him with something like this,” Logan protested. “Not when he isn’t having any adverse effects.”

“I don’t care. Virgil has never been missing so long. He’s always been in his room, or with the dark sides, or somewhere!” Patton was getting choked up, and Roman hugged him. 

“We can check the imagination. I’ll mobilize all my troops, and we’ll find him.” Roman promised. “We’ll find him.”

  * •^*^••

Virgil was  _ not  _ going to wait around for Roman any more. He had finally been able to turn back human again, and had stuck out his hand through the grating to get the attention of the guard. It had taken a long time, and a heated argument, but he had finally convinced the guard that, having a human body, and a human stomach, he ought to be given something to eat. He gathered all the shadows he could, which was more than ever before, and then waited. 

As soon as the door had opened an inch he sent all the shadows against the guard and stuck his hand through the gap. The guard reeled back in confusion, and Virgil was able to grab him and throw him into the cell. He pocketed the keys, and stopped to scarf down as much food as he could quickly. Then he started to make his way upstairs. 

  * •^*^••

“I want everyone. Everyone. To be looking for this man. Even the prison guards.” Roman said. 

“Of course.” The captain said, saluting. “While you were gone, we caught the witch—“

“I don’t care!” Roman yelled. He took a deep breath. “I apologize. Finding this man comes first. After that I will hear your report.”

“Yes, Sire.” The captain hurried to carry out his orders. 

Patton and Logan had been given escorts and gone to ask around in villages. Roman paced. He needed to stay here to receive the message that Virgil had been found. If he was brought here, but there was no one to meet him, it would waste time and energy. 

“Sire?” A servant poked his head in the door. 

“Yes?”

“There’s a commotion from the prison.”

“I’ll come see. Thank you.”

If there was a prison escape, or if the guards were upset at having to go out and search… Roman wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but no one was going to like it. 

He stomped down the stairs, pulling out his sword. 

When he got down to the courtyard, the door to the prison was a writhing mass of people and cries of pain. 

“Get out of my way!” Roman boomed. 

Guards started backing away, and clearing people away. Soon it was clear that there was only one knot of people left. 

“What’s going on?!” Roman yelled above the sounds of fighting. 

“Roman?” 

Roman knew that voice anywhere. “Virgil! All of you stop now!”

The guards stopped and backed away. Virgil had almost been forced to the ground, and was covered in dirt and blood, but he jumped up as soon as the guards let go of him. 

“Virgil!” Roman rushed to hug him. “What happened?! Where have been been? We’ve been searching for days!”

“I was stuck in your dungeon. What, do you keep witches forever without a trial?”

“What? No. Never mind. I’ll get word to Patton and Logan. You’ll tell all of us. I’m so glad you’re alright.”

“Me too.”

  * •^*^••

After cleaning up, getting first aid, and having his hoodie returned to him, Virgil found himself at a large table Roman had made at the border of the imagination, where he told his whole story. Deceit and Remus insisted on hearing as well, since they had helped look for him. 

“This can never happen again.” Patton announced. 

“I agree.” Roman said. “I’m going to make each of you a place in the imagination, and I’ll put in phones so that if I’m ever in the imagination I can be reached immediately. I’ll also make sure that all of my subjects know who you are, so that nothing like this happens again.”

“In addition, it may prove useful to have a public schedule, so that each of us can anticipate where the others will be at a given time.” Logan suggested. 

“Honestly, I’m still shocked that you guys were looking for me so long.”

“We will always look for you, kiddo!” Patton said, getting up to give Virgil a hug for the fifteenth time. He gave a meaningful stare to the others, and soon they were all in a group hug, broken up only when Remus’s smell overwhelmed them. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I’ve gotten well into Patton’s chapter, I still only have a half on an idea for Roman, but I’ve come up with (maybe) an idea for what I want to do for Remus. 
> 
> Let me know if you like the chapter! Comments make me so happy!


	6. Patton Needs a Break Sometimes Too

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Logan is stressed and tired and gets a bit mean. He does not stay this way, don’t worry. This chapter has a happy ending.

**Patton Needs a Break Sometimes Too**

  
  


“Listen, we are on a time limit. This  _ must  _ be done before the end of the week, no matter what else we may want to do. There is no place for emotions in this, Patton!” Logan said, turning back to his work. 

Virgil looked away from the hurt expression on Patton’s face. 

“Y-yeah, ok. I’ll be, in my room if you need me.” 

Virgil looked at Roman, who was engrossed in the book Patton had given him, and didn’t seem to have noticed the outburst. 

“Roman,” he whispered loudly, staring directly at the side of his face. 

A few seconds later Roman’s head popped up as he registered the intense stare. “What?” 

Virgil beckoned him over. “Logan is going to need my help, but Patton needs you. I also want you to do something for me.” He explained his plan to Roman, and then relayed the outburst. 

“Of course I’ll help. Come join us when you can.”

Then Roman left. Virgil waited a good while, until Thomas had reached a milestone in the work they were doing and decided to take a break. Unfortunately, this just gave him more time to think about and get more anxious about what he had to do. 

“Logan,” he said, surprised that his voice didn’t shake. 

“Yes?”

“Even for now… you shouldn’t have said that to Patton.” 

Logan sighed. “I wasn’t wrong.”

“It’s true that Thomas needs to do this work by the end of the week, and that he needs to focus on it or it won’t be done in time. But it’s not fair to say that he doesn’t need Patton.”

Logan clenched his jaw, but otherwise ignored Virgil. 

It was hours later when Logan said, “You’re right. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Once Thomas goes to sleep, we could go talk to him.”

“That does seem to be the correct course of action.”

  * •^*^••

Roman knocked on Patton’s door. “Can I come in?”

There was a moment of hesitation before Patton opened the door, a smile on his face, but his eyes red. “Sure, what do you need, kiddo?”

Roman held out his arms, and after a second Patton collapsed into them. 

“I’m sorry, I’m just not feeling so hot right now.”

“It’s alright,” Roman murmured, rubbing Patton’s back and rocking softly. He waited until Patton seemed like he was about to pull away before continuing. “You know, your dark son had an idea.”

“Oh?” Patton said, his voice full of tears. 

“Mhmm. He thinks that you’ve been in dad mode a bit too long. That you need a bit of rest where we take care of you for a change.” 

Patton chuckled. “That’s sweet, but I’m really fine. I’ll be right as rain by morning.”

“Would it help if I said I really like his idea? That I really want to do it?”

Patton pulled away enough to look up at him. “Really?”

Roman gave Patton one of his signature hero smiles. “Yes.”

Patton gave him a watery smile back. “What was his idea?”

Roman led Patton to his room and into Virgil’s corner of the imagination. 

It was small, only about half the size of a soccer field, and all around the outside in a circle were large stones covered in soft moss. It was perpetually just beginning to be twilight. The sky was all reds and purples, with just enough light that you didn’t have to squint to see. The grass was thick and soft, and covered every inch of ground except for a perfectly round pool in the middle. The pool was also perfectly still, and reflected back the moon that was already beginning to show. 

“Virgil said that when you want to take it easy, and not have to think about difficult things, that you like to shapeshift into your animal. He said it can calm your worries.”

“That can be fun, yes, but I sometimes have a hard time turning back afterward.” 

“Well, whether you do or not, I’ll be here to help. We can either stay here, or if you want to run around I know of a large field we can go to. Whatever you want to do! I can even shift with you if you want.”

“You would?”

“Of course! There’s very few things that any of us wouldn’t do if it would help you, Padre.” 

Roman barely blinked before he was being tackled by a massive golden retriever. At first Patton was wiggling all over and trying to lick his face, but after a minute he just laid down on top of him. Roman lay still, scratching softly behind Patton’s ears, while the dim light made him sleepy. 

“It’ll be alright,” he promised. “We may be all wound up now, but things always calm down again, and we’ll all be there for each other like always.”

Patton’s head on Roman’s chest shifted, and he licked Roman’s chin. 

  * •^*^••

It was late, well after midnight before Logan and Virgil gave in to Remy’s insistence that ‘Thomas is mine now, go away.’ 

Logan went immediately to his room, despite his previous words. “At this time of night, Patton is surely asleep. I will be sure to speak with him in the morning.”

Virgil peeked into Patton’s room, and then Roman’s, but they weren’t there. He would check his area of the imagination. Hopefully they were there, and if not he’d call Roman, who would be waking up in a few hours anyway. He didn’t need to use the door anymore, and sunk into the imagination. 

Roman was asleep on the ground, snoring lightly, with Patton on top of him. Patton’s eyes shot open moments after Virgil appeared, and his tail wagged off to the side, where it wouldn’t wake up Roman. Virgil waved at Patton, and crouched by one of the rocks. He lifted the heavy curtain of moss, and pulled out several blankets from a storage place in the rock. 

Patton slid off Roman, and grabbed one corner of the blanket to help spread it over him. 

Virgil wrapped another blanket around his shoulders, and laid the last on top of Patton. If he didn’t like it, he could easily shake it off. Which he did. 

Virgil sat down and held out his arms. Patton rushed in, resting his head on Virgil’s shoulder as Virgil hugged him.

“Are you feeling any better?” Virgil whispered, making long, soft strokes down Patton’s back.

Patton wagged his tail. After a few minutes he nosed at Virgil’s chest. 

“What?”

Patton butted Virgil with his head to push him down, and laid on his chest like he had been on Roman. 

“Oh, ok, I’ll go to sleep. But you need sleep too, Popstar. This is supposed to be us taking care of you, and you’re still taking care of us.”

Patton gave a surprisingly convincing eye roll, but laid his head down and closed his eyes.

Virgil stroked down Patton’s neck and back. Having a weight on his chest and stomach was surprisingly relaxing, and soon he fell asleep.

  * •^*^••

It was hard to gauge time when the sun never moved, but Patton was decently certain that it was morning when he woke up. Roman was gone, probably working on dreams, and Virgil was sleeping soundly. 

He tried to carefully get up without waking Virgil. Virgil’s eyes fluttered, and he mumbled something unintelligible, but he didn’t get up. Patton pulled the blanket up over him. 

He trotted away a bit, and tried to shift back. He was pleasantly surprised to find that it was easy this time. Perhaps, if Logan wasn’t still mad at him, he’d be willing to help figure out what made the difference between an easy and a difficult shift. Maybe he’d ask in a few days. For now, he was going to make a fantastic breakfast! He wanted to pay back Roman and Virgil at least a little, and maybe it’d cheer up Logan too. 

He couldn’t yet sink out of Virgil’s part of the imagination accurately, so he found the door and walked into Roman’s bedroom. Roman wasn’t there, but he usually wasn’t at this time of morning. 

Patton detoured to his room to take a quick shower and change his clothes, then he went down to the kitchen. 

He had plenty of time to decide what he wanted to make. Virgil wouldn’t be awake for several hours, and Roman would be busy dream making for a while yet, unless Thomas needed to get up earlier. Logan would probably be awake soon, but he didn’t like to eat as soon as he got up, normally just getting a coffee and waiting for the family breakfast. 

The question was still what to make. Patton knew that he and Roman liked sweeter breakfasts, like pancakes, waffles, or french toast, but Virgil and Logan liked eggs, sausage, bacon, and things made of them, like quiche. 

Finally he had decided. He was going to scramble eggs, and make sausage, but also he would make toast and cinnamon rolls. 

First of all, he made a pot of coffee. All the other sides liked coffee, but he had found he really only liked it with loads of cream and sugar, and also that Roman made it that way the best. Somehow, even with being the best cook, he could only make alright cups of coffee, but Roman was brilliant. He could make everyone’s favorite coffee perfectly. 

Next was going to be cinnamon rolls. With so much time, he could make them from scratch. He was going to make these be his best cinnamon rolls yet! 

A sound drew his attention, and he looked up to see Logan coming down the stairs. Logan froze at the bottom of the stairs, his expression unreadable. When he didn’t move or say anything, Patton looked away, back to his recipe. He continued pulling out ingredients silently. The argument they had had yesterday ran through his head, and he bit his lip. 

Logan cleared his throat, and Patton looked up at him again. He was standing even more stiffly than normal, and his face was set into… an expression. Patton wasn’t sure what kind the expression was supposed to be. 

“I need to apologize to you, Patton.” Logan began. “I said things yesterday that I shouldn’t have, and I hurt you. I don’t want to hurt you, Patton. I’m sorry.”

Patton rushed forward, only hesitating slightly before hugging Logan. “I forgive you. And I’m sorry too, now really isn’t the time for arguing, and I’m really the one who started it.”

Logan hugged him back and let out a sigh of relief. “You brought up valid points. I can focus too specifically on issues, and you were trying to make me see the whole picture. I still think that we should be putting all of our energy into this project this week, but next week would be a good time for a ‘self care day’ as you put it.”

Patton pulled back to smile at him. “That sounds good.”

Logan looked around. “Can I… assist in preparing breakfast?”

“Sure! I’d love the help, kiddo!”

  * •^*^••

Roman came downstairs to see Patton giggling over the truly horrendous amount of jam Logan was putting on his toast. The table was covered with delicious smelling foods. 

“This looks amazing!” He said. 

“Roman! Good morning!” Patton said cheerfully, waving. 

“Would you wake Virgil?” Logan asked. “Breakfast is minutes away from being ready.”

Roman got Virgil, who was already awake, and brought him downstairs. They were both glad to have a family breakfast. Especially such a happy one. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Roman and Remus’s ideas both came to me today, so those will be soon, and after that there will probably be a final chapter with Thomas. I can’t believe I’m nearly done!


	7. Remus Gets Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somehow Remus popped up with a complete idea for his chapter before Roman did.

**Remus Gets Out**

  
  


Deceit woke up to a strong sense that something was wrong. He had no idea what, but it just felt wrong. He got up and walked into the common room. A few of the others were awake, but seemed pretty calm. He made breakfast, hoping that the smell would draw the rest of them out of their rooms without tipping them off that he was checking on them. 

It worked, except that Remus didn’t come out. It was very possible that he was in his side of the Imagination, and even more possible that he was eating something of his own. 

Deceit, still trying to be as subtle as possible, walked all over their side of the mind, looking for what it was that was making him feel so wrong. 

He finally stopped at the door to the Light Side. There was a hole in the corner. It was small, just barely larger than his hand, but it immediately sent Deceit into a panic. It had to be Remus. 

  * •^*^••

Patton screamed. There was something in the kitchen. The light from the living room wasn’t enough to see what it was, but he didn’t dare get closer to turn on the kitchen light. The rustling just got louder. 

“Patton! Are you alright?” Virgil was quickly coming down the stairs behind him. 

“S-something’s in there.” Patton pointed shakily towards the dark kitchen. 

Virgil’s face hardened. He turned on his phone flashlight and kept it pointed in front of him as he walked into the kitchen. He flipped the light on. There was a screech, and something flew at his head. 

Virgil ducked, only to get crashed into by some animal. He yelled and flung it away. It ran off immediately. 

Patton poked up from behind the couch. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” Virgil growled. “It scratched me, but it’s gone now.”

“It’s still somewhere, though.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s one of Roman’s figments, and got out of the imagination somehow. Once he gets up we can have him take it back.”

Patton got down the first aid kit. “For now though, Virgil, you’re my hero!”

Virgil blushed. “I didn’t even do much.”

“You confronted something creepy for me. And you’re about to be brave and sit still so I can clean up the scratches you got.”

Virgil groaned, but he was smiling. 

  * •^*^••

Logan was trying just having his wings out. It was still baby steps, but he was working on it. He was in his room reading, but the door was halfway open. 

There was an odd sound from the hallway, and when he turned to look, an animal darted into his room and started  _ climbing  _ his wings. Logan let out a very unprofessional squeak as he jumped up and tried to shake it off. 

Finally managed to grab it and pull it off. It squirmed and scratched at his arm, but he had grabbed close enough to its neck that at least it couldn’t bite him. It was a raccoon. 

Logan carried it into his corner of the imagination, which Roman had made into a lab for him, and dropped the raccoon into a cage. The cage was large, but the bars were close enough together that it couldn’t get out. Logan picked up the phone. 

“Roman, there’s a figment of yours that got out. I’ve caught it, but I’d appreciate it if you would retrieve it.”

“Sure. I’m just a bit busy at the moment, but as soon as Thomas is up for the day I’ll deal with it.”

“Yes, that would be ideal.”

“Great! See you later then, specs.” Roman hung up. 

Logan turned around and startled. In the cage, instead of a raccoon, was Remus. He grinned. 

“What do we get to do till then?” He asked excitedly. “Are you going to experiment on me? What if I drink one of those beakers? Will my stomach blow up?”

“Remus!”

“Or what if you cut me open? I wonder what all you’d find. Ooh! If you find the spray paint marble I want it back. I’ve been waiting and waiting but it hasn’t come out yet.”

“No.”

Remus pouted. “You’re no fun. What  _ are  _ we going to do then?”

“Nothing. We’re going to wait here until Roman comes.”

Remus chortled. “Nah, that’d be boring.” He levered his feet against the bars and pushed until they split, leaving cuts along his calves. In a flash he was a raccoon again and darting through the holes and out of the lab. 

Logan tried in vain to catch him, but Remus was fast, and trying not to be caught. 

  * •^*^••

Deceit crept through the light side. Hopefully, both he and Remus would be unnoticed. Though honestly, he could not see any way of that happening.

Suddenly he was bowled over by Remus. 

“Deedee! It’s so fun! Why’d you ever lock the door?”

“Because Thomas wants you here. He wants both of us here. Don’t come back, Remus.”

“No! Nothing ever happens on our side.”

“You don’t have a whole half of the imagination!”

Remus pouted. “But no one wants to do anything  _ with  _ me!”

Deceit wrapped his arms tightly around Remus. “Don’t come back!”

Remus squirmed, but couldn’t overpower Deceit. Suddenly he shifted, and slipped out before Deceit could grab him again. He disappeared down the hallway just as quickly, before Deceit could even get up. 

Deceit sighed. He’d have to get the light sides to help. He went into their living room, where Virgil already was. Virgil of course didn’t trust him, but soon Logan and Patton came, and Deceit explained the situation to them. 

  * •^*^••

“I’m just going to use a little of this now, right at the end,” Remy said, an almost sadistic smile on his face. “Just a taste before his alarm goes off.”

“That’s evil,” Roman said. 

“Serves him right for setting the alarm in the first place.” Remy retorted, picking up the bag with the most exciting dream Roman had ready in it. “See you in a bit, babes!”

But before he had the chance to leave, Remus appeared, leaning on the door frame. “Hi! Can I play too?”

“Absolutely not,” Roman growled, drawing his sword. “I don’t know how you got in—“

Remus giggled, summoning his own weapon. “Yes! Let’s fight and smash all these pretty bottles.”

Roman faltered slightly, but Remy slid forward and covered Remus’s eyes with his hand, momentarily making him very sleepy. Roman tackled Remus to the ground and wrested the Morningstar from his hand. Remy dumped the entirety of the dream dust onto Remus’s face. 

Remus twitched and laughed, inhaling far too much dream dust for one person at once, and let out a sigh as if in ecstasy. 

“Thanks,” Roman said. “I’ll get him back where he belongs now.”

“Do that.”

Roman sunk out with Remus into the living room. He was surprised to see Patton, Logan, Virgil, and Deceit all there. 

“Roman!” Patton said. 

“Remus,” Deceit said. 

Upon hearing his name, Remus sneezed, and a cloud of dream dust sparkled up. Both Logan and Deceit stiffened up for a moment, covering their mouth and nose. 

“Oh, my,” Patton said, sitting down. 

Virgil moaned as if in pain, covering his ears with his hands and crumpling to the floor. 

Roman had had enough experience with the dust that this little didn’t affect him too strongly. 

“I could use your help getting him back home, Deceit.” Roman said. 

Deceit nodded, but Remus bolted upright. “No! I don’t want to go back yet!” His eyes were still unfocused, so he was probably still under many of the dream effects, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be able to do a lot of damage if one of them tried grabbing him. 

“How about this,” Patton said, surprisingly aware for having just been dream dusted. “You came here because you were bored. So we will each give you a present. Something new to play with.”

Remus only considered for half a second, perhaps because he knew that they’d take him back eventually either way. “Deal.”

“Wait here.” Patton said, going to his room. 

“Fine, if I have to give you something,” Roman said. There was a wastebasket in his room, and in it he had put all the crinkly foil wrappers that he had, perfectly smoothed out. He snapped it to his hand. It wasn’t huge, but Remus would get a kick out of balling up the colorful foil. He handed the basket to Remus. 

Even though his face was a mess of matted glitter it still managed to light up. 

“I suppose I’ll give you something then,” Logan said, his nose wrinkling slightly. He left the room just as Patton got back. 

Patton held out a yellow bucket, full of a sickly green slime. “Here!” He even seemed glad to do it. 

As soon as the bucket was in his hand, Remus stuck his face down in it. When he sat up again, most of the dream dust was stuck to the slime, and he had slime in his hair and mustache. He looked a lot more aware than he had a few minutes ago. 

Roman stuck his hand on the hilt of his sword, just in case. 

“I love it!” Remus said exuberantly. 

Logan got back just then and dropped a small container in Remus’s lap. “There. I’m willing to bet you’ve never tasted something like that before.” 

Remus opened the container. It was a powder that Logan sometimes put on his wings. He sniffed loudly, inhaling some, and causing most of the other people in the room to cringe. 

“Mm, I haven’t had something like this before.”

Everyone looked at either Virgil or Deceit. Virgil was only barely getting over the effects of the dream dust. 

“Florida man,” he slurred. “Look it up.”

Remus snapped and a phone appeared in his hand. He tapped away a few times before gasping. “How?! How have I never heard of this?!? This is an outrage! It’s beautiful!”

Virgil smirked. Patton helped him to the couch, where he laid down and covered his face with his hood. 

“What about you, Deedee?” Remus asked. 

“I’ll not give you mine when we’re home again.” Deceit promised. 

“Alright.” Remus slumped. “It’s a shame to go back. You’re all so fun! I’ll be sure to visit again!” He got up and followed Deceit. 

Roman followed them to make sure they made it back through the door and to help Deceit fix the hole. 

  * •^*^••

Once back in the dark side commons, Remus eagerly showed off all his presents to the others. 

“And Deedee still has to give me one too!” 

Deceit walked in and handed Remus a piece of snakeskin. “Here. It isn’t from the last time I shed.”

Remus’s eyes lit up and he shoved it into his mouth. 

Deceit’s nose wrinkled. “I’m  _ so  _ glad you feel the need to do that in front of me.”

“It doesn’t taste as strongly as I would have guessed,” Remus commented. 

  * •^*^••

It was soon after this that the video Dealing with Intrusive Thoughts was made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remus was... interesting to write. I wanted to stay in character, but I didn’t want to change the rating on my story, so this is what happened. 
> 
> So I finally gave some way of knowing where in the Sanders Sides timeline this fic is located. 
> 
> If you’re enjoying this fic, comment with a <3 for extra kudos!


	8. Roman’s Turn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman, who never wanted to show anyone his animal form, has to do it at some point.

**Roman’s Turn**

Patton had an idea. It was a good idea, Roman couldn’t say that it wasn’t. But he didn’t want to do it.

“--And we could all hang out in our animal forms for a day! Well, Logan might prefer just his wings, but I think both Virgil and I like being all one or the other, rather than in the middle.”

Virgil and Logan had reluctantly agreed, but Roman had managed to give some kind of non-committal answer and leave. He didn’t like it. Virgil and Patton were cute, and Logan looked so cool, but what was he? A raccoon. Vermin. And they had only recently had to deal with all the mess Remus had made while he was here, and with him being a raccoon, it put the animal in an even worse light than before.

He couldn’t help but think of how he and Virgil had enjoyed their night with Patton, how they had all wanted to pet Virgil while he was a cat, and how everyone was now very willing to help Logan preen his wings. It was so… enticing. And accepting. He knew that all of them felt a great relaxing if they slipped into their animal forms, and that it wasn’t like the other sides would kick him out, that it really was a good idea to do as Patton had suggested. But he couldn’t help but think that it could never be the same for him.

The day was set. Roman made the imagination into a perfect clearing in the woods, with bright sun coming down on thick grass, and shade from the trees all around. They had checked to be sure that Thomas didn’t have anything planned that they’d need to be more available for. Patton had even made a massive picnic lunch. 

“Alright. Are we all ready?” Patton asked. 

“I do believe we are,” Logan said, letting his wings out. Ever since he had made a habit of letting them out more often, they had seemed to grow larger. Not by much, but definitely larger, and definitely brighter. They glistened in the sunlight, looking impressive as Logan stretched them out to their full length. 

Virgil’s face screwed up, and his eyes were suddenly slitted, with a purple sheen to them, before he shrunk down into his cat form. He went to the edge of the blanket where there was a large patch of sun and curled up. 

Patton’s transformation was more instantaneous. One second he was himself, and the next second Roman was being tackled by a giant friendly dog. 

“What about you, Roman?” Logan said.

“Me? Oh, uh, I think I’ll just stay like this. I can be the ‘designated human’ in case there’s an emergency.”

Logan looked down at himself. “I’m quite human at the moment, I believe we will be fine.”

“Just in case, though.” 

Logan frowned slightly, “I suppose extra caution can’t hurt us, but I must say, I wouldn’t have expected you to be the one to bring up a concern like this.”

Roman shrugged and ran off to play with Patton. 

It worked out well until lunch time, but then Virgil turned back. “I can trade with you, if you want.”

“No, no I’m fine. You just keep enjoying yourself.”

Virgil’s eyes narrowed slightly. 

“Come on,” Roman said, mostly to preempt Virgil from saying anything. “I haven’t gotten to pet you in a long while. It’ll be plenty of fun for me too!”

Virgil ducked his head and looked away. 

“Are you certain you don’t want to-” Logan started.

“No, but I will next time.” Roman lied. 

At the words next time, Patton barked and wriggled all over in happiness.

After they had eaten, and Logan and Patton were off playing, Virgil did walk near Roman. Roman smiled down at him and rubbed around his ears and chin. Soon Virgil was dozing on his lap and purring. 

As the afternoon stretched on, Roman nodded off himself. 

  * •^*^••

It was only a few weeks before Patton insisted on repeating the Animal Day, as he had called it. And this time he wanted to invite Deceit. Roman knew that he wouldn’t be able to get out of it nearly as easily this time, and got stressed every time it was brought up. 

Virgil kept sending him odd looks, but at least he hadn’t said anything yet.

The day came, and this time they were even more prepared. They had various toys that they had each guessed they might want to play with while in their animal forms, and Deceit had agreed to come, though not to stay for the whole day. 

All too soon, it arrived. Roman was happy to help prepare, but then came the time when everything was ready. 

Deceit looked slightly nervous, but all the other sides were happy. Logan, Patton, and Virgil transformed with almost no hesitation. 

Roman stood awkwardly, shifting his weight slightly. 

“What about you, Roman?” Logan asked. 

“I’m, just not feeling like it.”

Virgil shifted back. “Are you sure?” 

“Yeah, I’m just not feeling well.”

Deceit eyed him. 

“Roman, I can feel anxiety rolling off of you,” Virgil said. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing! It’s not a crime if I’m not perfectly glittery all the time.”

Deceit opened his mouth, but closed it again. 

After what looked like several failed attempts to shift back human, Patton leaned heavily against Roman’s leg. 

“Would you rather we postpone this to another day?” Logan asked. 

“No. You’ve all been looking forward to it, I don’t want to ruin it.”

“He’sss not been telling the truth,” Deceit said quietly, hissing slightly. 

“Do you not want to shift into your animal form?” Logan asked kindly. 

“No.”

Deceit shook his head slightly. 

“What?!” Roman exploded. “If I’d’ve said yes you would have said the same! There isn’t a true answer to that question!”

“Then what is the truth?” Virgil asked. 

There was silence for several seconds. 

“I hate my animal form,” Roman said bitterly. 

Deceit shook his head again. 

Roman looked into several expectant faces, he clenched his jaw. “It’s that you all are going to hate me in my animal form.”

They all looked at Deceit. 

“Roman, that may be what you believe, but that doesssn’t make it true.” 

“No, it’s not true!” Virgil insisted. “No matter what it is, even if we’re scared of it, we’d never hate  _ you _ for it!”

“We all have animal forms that we can shift into,” Logan said. “It wouldn’t make you different. It wouldn’t make you unlikable in any way.”

Roman sank to the ground. Patton leaned on him more heavily and nosed at his face. 

“How do I know I can believe you?” He asked, his voice only coming out in a quiet whisper. 

Virgil knelt in front of him, but Roman couldn’t bring himself to look in his eyes. “Shift for us, let us prove it.”

Roman curled in on himself. He didn’t really have a choice, did he? They knew now, and if it were him he wouldn’t just leave it alone. He shifted. 

Almost immediately he was gathered into a lap. He didn’t look up to see who it was. He kept his eyes screwed shut, even as a hand softly ran over his head and down his back. 

He could tell that the others left him and whoever mostly alone. He could hear Patton nearby, laying on the ground and thumping his tail. Whoever was holding him didn’t say anything, or maybe he just didn’t pay attention. They pet him gently. 

After a while he adjusted his position to be more comfortable. It was a long time before he looked up. It was Virgil. 

“Feeling better?” Virgil asked. 

Roman nodded. 

“Do you want to stay here or go play with the others?”

Roman hunkered down further into Virgil’s lap. 

Several minutes later Patton came over. He stuck his nose into Roman’s side. Roman turned to face him. 

“I’m sorry,” he wasn’t sure why, but he felt he had to say it, despite the fact that it came out as a chittering sound, and not words at all. He put a hand on Patton’s snout. 

Patton looked as happy as a dog could be, and licked him. Then he ran off to bother Logan, who was talking with Deceit. 

Roman drapes himself over one of Virgil’s legs, where he could watch the others. Virgil kept petting him softly, as if he were afraid he’d hurt him with anything more. Roman didn’t mind. It was actually really pleasant. 

  * •^*^••

“If I was going to plan another Animal Day, would you want to go?” Patton asked. 

Roman was surprised that he could honestly say, “Yeah, I think I’d like that, Padre.”

  * •^*^••

Deceit squiggled along just a bit too close, and Roman knew without being told that it was a taunt. He jumped down on top of Deceit, who thrashed and hissed. He let him go, but a minute later he did it again. It was a wonderful little game, and Deceit made himself harder to catch each time. 

It was fun, and lighthearted, which is why Roman never anticipated Deceit wrapping around him and baring his fangs just under his chin. Roman squeaked and froze. Deceit let him go. 

Oh, now it was  _ on! _

After several more rounds, Deceit turned back. He was genuinely laughing, which was rare. 

“Remussss alssso alwaysss fallss for the ssswitch!”

“You play this with Remus?” Roman, who had also shifted back, asked. 

“Infrequently.” Deceit replied. Roman wasn’t sure whether he was lying or not. 

“Should we invite him too?” Patton asked. Patton was the designated human this time, a post that they had discovered was actually needed. 

“He bitess for real,” Deceit warned. 

“We are sides of a personality, any damage from one another does not last.” Logan said. He was laying on his stomach near Patton, who was combing through his feathers. 

  * •^*^••

Logan, to everyone’s surprise, turned fully into a falcon to dive bomb Remus from the sky. Soon Remus was screaming and being carried off in Logan’s talons. 

Remus was, undoubtedly, the most violent in the games he suggested, but no one had expected Logan to rise to the occasion in the way he had. Remus, of course, loved it, though he was willing to accommodate the less violent of them since it meant he’d be invited back again. 

Roman didn’t mind wrestling with Remus now and again, and Virgil even got in on it sometimes, though being a cat gave him a bit of a disadvantage. 

Patton never fought anyone, for real or play. The closest thing he’d do was tug of war with the designated human. 

They all enjoyed Animal Day, and it became a regular biweekly part of their schedule. 

  * •^*^••

Roman was in bed, writing in his ideas notebook. He had woken up hours earlier than usual, but couldn’t seem to fall back asleep. 

His door creaked open a crack, and a shadow jumped quietly onto the foot of his bed. 

“Virgil?”

Virgil meowed and walked up next to his leg. Roman reached out a hand and waited until Virgil rubbed his head against it to start scratching around his ears and chin. 

“You know, I can’t even imagine us doing something like this a few months ago. It was… hard, to show each of us our animal forms, but I think it was worth it. And I’m thinking, maybe we could show Thomas?”

Virgil bit his hand. 

“Ok, ok. That’s fine. Not yet then. But can at least discuss it.”

Virgil meowed, and Roman petted him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My brother read this and thought it was too short, which it may well be, but I’m still happy with it. 
> 
> The next chapter is the last one! It should be out by or before Saturday. This work has been so well received, especially when compared to my other works, that I almost don’t want to finish. At the same time, I rarely finish anything, and I want to take this win. 
> 
> Please comment and leave kudos! They mean the world to me!


	9. Showing Thomas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that the sides all know, they show Thomas.

**Showing Thomas**

  
  


“I’ll only agree on two conditions,” Virgil said. “I get to test the waters first, and if I say no, we don’t do it.”

“But, kiddo, it’s Thomas. It’s not like he’s going to be mad at us or anything.” Patton insisted. 

Roman found himself agreeing with Virgil. Even though it had been his own idea in the first place, and even though Virgil was essentially taking the position of knight in shining armor for the rest of them, which normally Roman would have fought tooth and nail for, he was still nervous. 

“I still don’t see why this is necessary,” Logan said. “It doesn’t benefit Thomas in any way, and we have no needs that would be met by showing him.”

“He wants to learn more about himself,” Deceit said tentatively, still unused to being allowed to join in the arguments. 

“He does!” Patton said. “He wants to learn more about himself. This is something he doesn’t know about yet, except maybe he has a good guess about Deceit.”

“I think,” Roman said slowly. “That it opened us up to each other. It’s certainly dangerous, since we don’t know how he’ll react-“

Virgil smirked. “Careful, Princey, you’re sounding more like me every day.”

Roman continued, “but he does want to be open with himself, and this would be a way to do that.”

  * •^*^••

And that was why Virgil was hiding underneath the couch late at night. He was in his cat form, and by the sniffing above him, probably Thomas was having allergy issues. 

He had suggested, insisted, on doing this, but he was currently unable to show himself, nearly paralyzed with fear. And without showing himself, Thomas wouldn’t know why he was having issues and he wouldn’t take the medicine. He had to come out. He had to. Even if just for Thomas. 

Or maybe… 

After several more minutes of anxious indecision, Virgil let out a tiny meow. 

The couch creaked as Thomas got up. Soon his face was looking down on Virgil. 

“I do not own a cat.” Thomas chuckled at the meme reference. “Hey, little guy, where did you come from?”

Virgil slowly walked forward. 

Thomas cooed at him and scooped him up. “How did you even get in here?”

Virgil meowed again. 

Thomas seemed happy, but of course he would be. He likes cats. The problem will be when Virgil reveals that it’s him. 

“Come on this way,” Thomas said, although he was carrying Virgil. “I probably ought to take some allergy medicine, because you are going to stay here tonight at least. In the morning we’ll find out who you belong to and take you back.”

Thomas day down with his on the couch and kept watching his movie, alternating scratching and stroking. Virgil purred, determined to take every bit of comfort he could get before it was ruined. Thomas seemed pleased, which was good. 

The episode ended and Thomas shut off the tv, seemingly intent on playing with Virgil. He dangled stray objects in front of his face, and Virgil pawed at them as if he really was just a cat. 

“Oh! I bet Joan has a laser pointer!” Thomas suddenly burst out, reaching for his phone. 

No! The whole point of this would be ruined if Joan came. Virgil knew he wouldn’t be able to scrape together enough to try again. Panic raced through him, and he must have let some get through to Thomas because his expression changed, he dropped the phone, and Virgil felt the summons even before Thomas said his name. 

Virgil reverted to human form, still on the floor beside Thomas. Thomas jumped, but that was nothing compared to the shaking Virgil could just tell his body was doing. 

“What’s—?” Thomas looked around. “What’s going on, Virgil? Wait, hey, breathe a minute.”

Virgil sucked in a trembling breath. He had no idea why this was hitting him so hard. Normally he could control himself better than this. He closed his eyes and followed the 4 7 8 breathing until he was a bit more in control. 

“Alright,” Thomas put a hand on Virgil’s shoulder, and suddenly Virgil knew why it was so hard. It was the shock and difference from just a few seconds ago. He shouldn’t have let Thomas pet him. 

“What’s the matter, Virgil?”

“Icanturnintoacat.” Virgil mumbled quickly. 

“You can turn into a cat? The cat that’s been here this evening?”

Virgil was impressed that Thomas had understood him. He had barely been able to understand himself. He nodded, still not looking up. 

“Well, it’s not too surprising, you all can shapeshift. Why are you so worried about it this time?”

“Because…” Virgil swallowed. His throat was suddenly so dry, and hurt. “We all have a… I guess it’s like a spirit animal? No, that’s not a good—“

“And yours is a cat?” Thomas guessed. 

Virgil nodded. 

“Then what is it you were scared of? I love cats.”

“We wanted to show you, but we were worried that you might be upset, or scared, or mad or something.”

“I’m not. I’m not entirely sure why you thought I would be.”

“Well, with Deceit, you never liked his scales, and we thought that it would extend to us too if we showed you.”

“It’s not, it’s not that I dislike Deceit’s scales. He gives off an entirely creepy appearance, like you used to.”

Virgil cringed slightly, and Thomas spoke again. 

“I’m not mad, or upset. I’d be happy if you all would trust me enough to show me this, especially since it’s clearly a sensitive matter for you.”

Virgil looked up at Thomas, searching his eyes as if he could detect any lies. 

“Thank you.”

Thomas pulled him into a hug. 

  * •^*^••

“So do we, do anything different?” Roman asked. 

“Nope!” Patton said cheerily. “I’ve explained it all to Thomas and we’re going to have Animal Day just like normal, and he’s going to be the designated human. Also, I think you should all go ahead and shift, then I’ll get him and bring him, and then I’ll shift after.”

Virgil nodded, and so did Logan. Deceit still looked sceptical, but Remus was as… animated as always. 

  * •^*^••

Thomas blinked. Patton had just transformed into a dog, and was wagging his tail excitedly. Everyone else, though, was staring at him, the anticipation filling the air and making it hard to breathe. Though that might have been the anxiety talking. It was too much all at once. He couldn’t reassure all of them at once. He wanted to, though! He wanted it so much. It hurt a bit that they were so scared of what he might think. 

He had to focus. Had to pick just one. Movement caught his eye. Deceit was rather pointedly not looking at him, but his tongue flickered in and out. Thomas knelt next to him and stretched out an arm. Deceit shifted quickly to face him, drawing up in a way that would be threatening in any other snake, but Thomas knew that Deceit would never bite him. 

Deceit was not a  _ large _ snake, but he wasn’t tiny. He was probably three or four feet long, and almost as thick as Thomas’s wrist at the thickest part. His scales were a bright yellow, verging on gold, with small black patterns here and there. 

Deceit slid his head forward, and Thomas rubbed at the top of it. He wasn’t positive that snakes liked being petted, but Deceit wasn’t pulling away. He reached his hand down to lift up on one of Deceit’s coils. Deceit took the hint and slithered up his arm, settling himself on Thomas’s shoulders. He poked his head out just under Thomas’s chin. Thomas reached up and rubbed at the top of his head again. Deceit flickered his tongue out. 

Thomas shifted from kneeling to sitting. He looked up to see what the others were doing. Logan and Virgil were still staring at him, not having moved much since he had arrived. Patton was off playing with the twins a little ways away. 

“Logan,” Thomas said, kind of hating that he had to be the one to call Logan over. “Can I see your wings?”

“Of course,” Logan said, coming and sitting down with his back to Thomas. 

The wings really were beautiful. 

“Can I touch them?” Thomas asked. 

Logan nodded. 

As Thomas ran his fingers over the softest feathers he could even imagine, he could see Logan begin to relax. 

“So what do you normally do during days like this?” Thomas asked. 

“I am frequently the designated human, since I can fulfill all the requirements of the office while still having my wings out, but occasionally Remus wishes to play a hunting game, and I will join him.”

“Oh? What’s that like?” 

“Mostly Remus will run away or try to attack one of the others, and I dive in to grab him from the air.”

“And you guys have fun like that?”

“It is… stimulating.”

Deceit let out a small hiss and bumped his head up into Thomas’s chin. 

“Are you… lying?” Thomas asked, hesitantly, because he didn’t want to ruin the little bit of comfort he had managed to give. 

Logan turned around. “No.” He frowned slightly. “Ah, I believe Deceit is trying to express affection.”

Thomas awwed, and Deceit hissed at Logan. 

Virgil, who was in Logan’s lap, butted his head up into Logan’s palm, and Logan turned back to how he had been and resumed petting Virgil. 

Soon after, Patton bounded over, clearly wanting Logan to do something with him. Once they left, Deceit slithered away to watch Remus. Virgil climbed into Thomas’s lap and seemed to fall asleep. 

A small sound to the side of him drew Thomas’s attention. It was Roman. Thomas had been surprised at how easy it was to tell Roman and Remus apart, even though they were the same animal. Mostly because Remus consistently had matted, dirty fur, and looked as if he might well have rabies. 

Thomas held out a hand to Roman. Roman put both of his hands on top of it. Thomas smiled. It was so cute! He wasn’t going to say it out loud, in case it embarrassed any of them, but honestly they were all so precious. Roman came closer, and let Thomas pet him. 

Now Thomas had a lap full of fluff. And in the mindscape, Virgil didn’t even bother his allergies, so he had nothing to worry about. It was bliss. 

Most of the sides shifted back to human form to eat lunch, and afterwards Thomas played more active games with Patton and Remus. 

“So,” Thomas said, when the day was over, “I really enjoyed myself today, and I’m really happy that you all would share this with me. Can I come back next time?”

“No,” Logan said immediately. 

Thomas’s face fell. 

“You have a prior engagement that day,” Logan continued. 

“We can move it!” Patton insisted, swatting at Logan’s arm. “Of course you’re invited back, Thomas.”

Thomas brightened, and looked to Roman. 

Roman smiled and posed. “I’d be proud to have you back, Thomas.”

“Me too,” Virgil chimed in. 

“You certainly aren’t welcome in your own mind,” Deceit said. 

Remus of course said something that appalled everyone there, but the gist was that he’d be glad to have Thomas visit them more frequently. 

  * •^*^••

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of the main arc. I may come back later and add little vignettes that don’t follow this timeline, such as ‘Why did Remus force Virgil to eat a rat?’ ‘Virgil likes being petted as a human, not just as a cat’ ‘Why Roman is so very sensitive about his animal form’ ‘Patton got stuck as a dog when he was really needed’ 'Let's have another adventure in the imagination’ ‘What is Remy supposed to be?’ or other things. If you want to see any of these, let me know! If anyone has another prompt, please comment! I’d love to see it and I’ll probably write it. 
> 
> Also, kudos to my little brother! He proofread almost every chapter for me and was very encouraging. 
> 
> I also want to thank DRAgonpal for leaving so many nice comments!


End file.
